House of Dreams

Summary: Playing house with the one you love would be a whole lot of fun…if only you didn't hate each other at the time.   Bren/Shal

Gender: Action/Romance

Disclaimer: Not mine!  Mutant X belongs to Tribune and Marvel.

Rating: PG

Chapter one—House of Dreams

Brennan ducked as Shalimar's booted foot came flying his way.  He whirled around and watched as she softened her landing with a soft roll and recovered into a ready squat.  He held up his hands in a confused gesture of surrender. 

"Shal, will you calm down and just tell me what I did?" he pleaded, frustrated, as she launched herself at him again with a low growl.  He grunted as she caught him in an undercut to the belly, doubling over.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" he gasped, slowly straightening back up. 

Shalimar stood back a half step and gave him an incredulous glare.

"You have to even ask me that?" she spat at him, eyes narrowing into a dangerous yellow as she backed up a few more paces.   "I cannot even believe you have to ask me that," she repeated at his questioning shrug.  She waited another moment, her anger growing as he stayed silent, looking innocently perplexed.  With a flying leap, she knocked him to the ground again, landing him flat on his back.  Brennan's eyes fluttered to the back of his head before staying closed.  His body twitched once, twice, before laying still. 

Shalimar grinned triumphantly as she pounced on top of him, her smirk fading as she realized he wasn't moving.  "Brennan?" she inquired.

No answer.

"Brennan!" she slapped lightly at his face, irritation turning to worry as he failed to respond. 

"Oh great," she muttered, "I wanted to kill him, but I didn't want him dead."   She moved her hands from his face to his chest, feeling comforted as she felt him draw a shuddering breath. 

"Shal?" he moaned softly as his head rolled from side to side, "What happened?"  

She felt her frustration return as he slowly came back to awareness.  "Nothing, you big jerk," she grunted as she slapped his chest with both fists.  "I'm angry with you, remember?"

Brennan forced his dazed mind to focus on Shalimar's flushed face.  "Oh yeah," he countered mildly without moving, "Although I still don't know why."

Shalimar grunted in warning as she tightened her tense hold on his prone body.  Her warning backfired however, as it only served to draw his attention from her anger to their precarious position.  His eyes wandered from her glaring eyes down to her heaving chest, intrigued. 

"Brennan!" she reprimanded sternly, "Stop it.  You have all the nerve, looking at me that way after what you did.  And if you weren't hurt, I would—" her voice cut off as approaching footsteps were heard. 

"Brennan!  Shalimar!"   Jesse came running around the corner, skidding to halt as he saw them, Lexa right on his heels. 

"Well, well," Lexa commented as she noticed them too, "Shall we leave you two alone?" 

Shalimar's glare stopped them from further comment, and Lexa cleared her throat in humor.  "In any event, we have a new mission, and I need you two to go undercover," she continued. 

"What kind of mission," Brennan piped up from the floor for the first time, groaning as he held his head with his hands.

"Are you ok?" Jesse asked him.

"He's fine," Shalimar's voice dared them to comment further. 

"Well, then," Jesse shook his head, "There's been a couple of disappearances in a rather wealthy neighborhood of condominiums.  All have been new mutants."

"No signs of foul play, so the police aren't really pursuing the case," Lexa explained, "But my sources have a personal interest in this one.  Besides being new mutants, one of the missing persons is a former GSA agent and a possible contact to Dominique."

"Humm," Brennan grunted as he peeled his hands from his face, "Her again." 

"We've set up a cover for you both that we feel will work nicely," Lexa continued, "and if you care to follow us into the lab, we can explain the details."

"What sort of details," Shalimar asked suspiciously.

"Oh let me," Jesse pleaded at Lexa as she beckoned him on with a wave.  He returned his gaze back to Shalimar.

"You and Brennan are being set up in one of the vacant units in the complex, he smirked.  "You will move in there as Peter and Emily Harris, a happy newlywed couple."  

"What?" squeaked out Shalimar, not daring to look at Brennan.

"Peter and Emily," Jesse repeated with a grin.

"Now come on," Lexa took over again, "We're wasting time here, and we have much to do yet."  She turned around and headed back in the direction of the lab, Jesse following her.

"Peter and Emily?" Shalimar tried out the names with distaste, finally glancing down at Brennan, aware she was still straddled across his chest.

"Peter and Emily," Brennan returned, a wide grin spreading across his face as he raised his eyebrows up and down in anticipation, "Newlyweds." 

 TBC if you think it's worth it!